Donna Davies is Professor of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Southampton. She has concentrated her research career on epithelial and mesenchymal cell biology and the roles of these cell types in cancer and mucosal injury and repair. Her recognition that asthmatic airways exhibit an aberrant wound healing response has linked inflammation to remodelling and identified novel therapeutic targets in this disease. She has sought pathways to impact through establishing a university spin-out company that has recently led to a highly successful clinical trial. She is Director of Clinical and Experimental Sciences at Southampton and a PI in the NIHR Respiratory BRU.